Mu Alpha’s distinction continued to be noted in various media throughout the early 1960s. In Spring 1960, the University Librarian acknowledged the chapter for their book sale, a fundraiser which benefited the library via the Senior Class Gift.
The chapter’s commitment to orphans and other disadvantaged youth was highlighted in the October 1962 issue of the Torch and Trefoil, the national organ of Alpha Phi Omega. In that same issue, Mu Alpha was recognized as one of the top chapters among medium-sized colleges and universities. It was ranked 13th in chapter size, new pledges, and chapter program.
Mu Alpha’s robust program of service kept the chapter busy even when not in the national spotlight. On Saturday, October 13, 1962, the brothers ushered and led tours of the newly dedicated Reiss Science Building.
Meanwhile, preparations were underway for an exciting event scheduled to happen the following month. On Thursday, November 29, 1962, Brother Mark Phillips Co-Chaired “An American Pageant of the Arts” – a closed-circuit television screening of a national cultural showcase — in McDonough Gymnasium. Described in a Hoya editorial as an event wholly planned by the Collegiate Club and Alpha Phi Omega, the screening was a fundraiser for the future National Cultural Center – now known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
As previously noted, Alpha Phi Omega at Georgetown University was established on East Campus – the School of Foreign Service. It is widely believed that Jay Ossman (L15) was the first non-SFS student to pledge Mu Alpha Chapter. It was in this same year of his pledging (1963) that the yearbook of the School of Foreign Service notes that membership is open to all students, not just those on East Campus.
This particular yearbook also marks the first occurrence of the term “pledging lines” – now referred to as pledge lines. As Mu Alpha Chapter was established due to the efforts of a sole APO Brother who had dual membership in Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Fraternity, it was inevitable that some traditions would be shared between the two organizations. Naming pledge classes “lines” would be one such tradition from the start.
Nationally known as “pledge classes,” the lines of Mu Alpha have been generally organized by height order since the mid-1960s, with the shortest being the most senior and the tallest being least senior. Perhaps influenced by the many organizations on campus, in addition to DPE, which value rules and order, the system of seniority in Mu Alpha has endured for decades.
Under the leadership of Mark S. Phillips, Mu Alpha chapter in 1963 continued many of the service projects which set the chapter apart from other campus organizations. The Brothers assisted with the registration of freshmen, escorted distinguished visitors around campus, and adopted local orphanages as service projects. In this year, as cited in the March 1963 Torch and Trefoil, the chapter participated in the restoration of the Hillcrest Child Center, an orphanage which was refurbished with the assistance of students in the School of Nursing.
Mark Phillips was succeeded by Marty Hamberger as President of Mu Alpha Chapter for the 1963-64 school year. Richard Porter served as Vice President. Both men, along with Brother Peter Linzmeyer, were among the 40 East Campus students elected to Who’s Who Among American College Students in Spring of 1964. Another chapter brother, Richard Hayes (L12) won the prestigious Merrick Debate Medal that semester.
Under the Hamberger administration, the chapter continued its service to children by hosting a Halloween party for the orphans residing at St. Vincent’s. This party was paid for with funds raised from the ever-popular Ugly Professor contest. Additionally, the chapter continued proctoring campus elections and providing ushers for campus events. The chapter also published booklets dealing with campus activities.
In what may be the first documented pledge line service project, Line 17 (Spring 1964) was reported by The Hoya to have spearheaded the naming of a blood bank in honor of University Chancellor Fr. Bunn.
Although few early records exist documenting Mu Alpha’s participation in inter-chapter events, the April-May 1964 Torch and Trefoil lists the chapter as having participated in a Sectional Conference. Held February 29 to March 1 at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the Section 24 Conference consisted of chapters from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, and Central and Eastern Pennsylvania.
Perhaps as an extension of the collective desire to get off campus, Mu Alpha provided free publicity for a play put on by the ladies of Mount Vernon College on Foxhall Road, NW. The George Bernard Shaw play You Never Can Tell was performed on Monday, April 14, 1964.
On Saturday, May 2, 1964, Mu Alpha joined eight other student organizations to cosponsor the first International Student Day at Georgetown. The day’s events included an exhibition, a reception for the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Nicaragua, and a cultural festival in Gaston Hall. In related service of an international nature, it was also during the Spring of 1964 that the chapter provided official escort duties during the campus visit of Madame Nhu, the controversial first lady of South Vietnam.
In 1964, Jim Suarez was elected chapter president and served through 1965. Other officers were Don Casey, Vice President, Program; Jay Bowes, Vice President, Membership; Richard Camaur, Recording Secretary; Mark Davis, Corresponding Secretary; Gene Szepesy, Treasurer; and Steve Duffe, Project Chairman.
It was during the 1964-65 school year that the chapter was described in The Protocol as “frequently the first students to arrive at Georgetown in September” for their freshmen orientation and transportation service from the airport, train station, and bus terminals. Shortly thereafter, the chapter conducted a fall raffle to benefit the St. Francis orphanage. The same orphans received a Halloween party in the band room of the gym on Sunday, November 1, 1964.
As the three surviving East Campus Fraternities, Alpha Phi Omega, Delta Sigma Pi, and Delta Phi Epsilon received positive coverage in a Hoya article about Georgetown’s Greek life. The article appeared just prior to winter break on Thursday, December 17, 1964.
As had become a standing tradition by this time, Mu Alpha was used as ushers for major campus events. In fact, the chapter’s participation in the most important event of the year was noted in the 1965 Protocol: “Perhaps no student organization played a more consistent and versatile role in Georgetown’s 175th Anniversary observation than Alpha Phi Omega.” The Brothers of Mu Alpha participated as ushers at the closing convocation of the anniversary in December 1964, at which President Lyndon Baines Johnson addressed the audience and where Rev. Gerard Campbell was inaugurated as University President. Fr. George Dunne, the chairman of the anniversary, publicly thanked Alpha Phi Omega and the Collegiate Club for their active roles in the January 15, 1965 edition of The Hoya.
In a special initiation held in his office, Fr. Edward Bunn, Chancellor of Georgetown University, was initiated as an honorary brother of Mu Alpha Chapter.
In March of 1965, the chapter raised several hundred dollars for their orphan fund through the fifth annual Ugly Prof contest.
On April 10, 1965, Mu Alpha participated in the Section 24 Conference at the University of Maryland. The Sectional Chairman was Lorin A. Jurvis, who would go on to become National President and a member of the Mu Alpha Alumni Association.
Members of Mu Alpha also volunteered with the United Givers Fund Washington drive. Brothers distributed information and solicited funds door to door, earning recognition for individual members in the Evening Star (best known as the Washington Starprior to ceasing publication in August 1981). The United Givers Fund locally merged with the Health and Welfare Council to become the United Way of the National Capital Area in 1974.
As the chapter neared its tenth anniversary, the 1965-66 school year was shaping up to be much like the successful years leading up to it. The chapter maintained its high-functioning service program in the form of orientation and transportation for freshmen, ushers for campus events, maintaining a blood bank, and assisting the student council during elections. The chapter continued its popular Ugly Man on Campus fundraiser for its orphan fund, which provided recreational opportunities for orphaned and underprivileged children. The United Givers Fund once again commended the Brothers of Mu Alpha for a successful Washington Drive in the Fall of 1965. New in the Fall of 1965 was a brand new ride board which the chapter donated to the campus for the purposes of encouraging ride-sharing among the students for weekends and holidays.
The chapter was led by President Jim O’Malley, Vice President of Program Barney Rupp, Vice President of Membership John Tuccillo, Recording Secretary John Conaghan, Corresponding Secretary Art Wallenstein, Treasurer Bob Thomas, and Projects Chairman Bill Johnson. Under this administration, Mu Alpha was ranked as second in the nation in achievement. This chapter ranking system was the forerunner to the current Chapter of Excellence award program.
The spring of 1966 – the tenth anniversary of the chapter – marked what would arguably be the most significant pledge line of the chapter’s history to that point. On this line were several brothers whose names should be well known to brothers of Mu Alpha: Christopher “Kit” Ashby, the founder of the Ashby Tree who would go on to become United States Ambassador to Uruguay; Gerald Schroeder, who would rise through the ranks from chapter president to National President of Alpha Phi Omega; and Bill Clinton, who would ultimately become President of the United States of America.
A few weeks later, Jerry Schroeder was selected to be Mu Alpha’s lone delegate of 247 attending the 1967 Constitutional Convention in Norman, Oklahoma. This convention was held from December 27 to December 29. The Constitutional Convention was an important moment in the history of Alpha Phi Omega that perhaps most directly affected Mu Alpha by allowing the chapter to initiate men who had no prior Scouting experience.
In 1968-69 school year, Mu Alpha was a host chapter for the 20th National Convention, held in Washington, DC at the Shoreham Hotel. The convention was held December 27-29, 1968.
Leaders of Mu Alpha during this year were President Gerald Schroeder, First Vice President John Principe, Treasurer Joe Kelly, and Recording Secretary Phil Leas. These men and others led the chapter through traditional projects such as freshmen orientation and service to needy children through a Christmas party at the DC receiving home. Once again, Alpha Phi Omega brothers made a name for themselves through ushering and assistance at social events. The freshmen dance, the upperclass mixer, the School of nursing mixer, El Dia Guadalpe, and the Four Tops concert are all examples of how Mu Alpha was able to continue its high profile on campus. The chapter even replaced many of the letters on the globe in the Walsh lobby and raised money for a portable, electric scorecard for outdoor athletic events.
On Thursday, March 20, 1969, Mu Alpha held a reception for the Georgetown University Board of Directors and students in Copley Lounge. Both a social event and a service to the students of the campus, this reception gave students the opportunity to ask questions directly of the university’s main policy-makers.
Mu Alpha’s entry in the 1969 Ye Domesday Booke reiterates the chapter’s lack of – indeed, its disdain for – brutality and physical hazing of any kind. The entry also stresses, not for the first time, Mu Alpha’s unity through its diversity of men.
The 1960s closed with Mu Alpha’s participation as ushers in the 1969 inauguration of Rev. Robert J. Henle, S.J., as the 45th President of Georgetown University.
| Line 9 | Line 10 | Line 11 | Line 12 |
| Spring 1960 | Fall 1960 | Spring 1961 | Fall 1961 |
| Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: |
| Dedication: | Dedication: Joseph H. Brunton, Jr. | Dedication: | Dedication: The Honorable John Fitzgerald Kennedy |
| (Alphabetical Order) | (Alphabetical Order) | (Alphabetical Order) | (Alphabetical Order) |
| James Anthony | Fredric Angelo | David Burroughs | St. Claire Bourne |
| Brian Devlin | Evan Ewing | Ken Ebbitt | Paul Cirre |
| John Osberger | Mark Phillips | William Ebersold | Jan P. Gardiner |
| Ray Shevenell | Edward Glalmo | Richard Hayes | |
| Richard Weicker | Henry Holland | Peter Kressler | |
| Peter Linzmeyer | James Lassinger | ||
| Edwynne Murphy | Cal Stanny | ||
| Richard Porter | Cyril Tazik | ||
| William Watkins | Richard Weisberger | ||
| William Youn | |||
| Honorary Brother: | |||
| Franklin Heins |
| Line 13 | Line 14 | Line 15 | Line 16 |
| Spring 1962 | Fall 1962 | Spring 1963 | Fall 1963 |
| Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: |
| Dedication: | Dedication: Dr. H. Roe Bartle | Dedication: | Dedication: Dean Arno Nowotny |
| (Alphabetical Order) | (Alphabetical Order) | (Alphabetical Order) | William Mohan |
| Bill Sharbutt | |||
| John Cooney | William Anderson | John “Jay” Bowes | Charles Accetola |
| Frank Felicetti | Andrew Bihun | Gerard Campbell | Richard Camaur |
| Mark Goldin | John Biondi | John Fitzpatrick | Donald Casey |
| Martin Hamberger | Alfonso DeRosa | Paul Hanafin | George Resch |
| Chris Johnson | Stephen Duffe | Robert Mohr | Hugh Long |
| David Lamb | Jerry Hayek | Julian “Jay” Ossman | John DeCourcy |
| David Lambert | Daniel Miclau | Gene Szepesy | Mark Davis |
| James Ranger | Bruce Petersen | Robert Vickers | Peter Adams |
| J. Phillip Sauntry | Richard Sanderson | Sherman Roberts | |
| Richard Schoembs | James Suarez | ||
| David Schroder | William Vaughan | Honorary Brother: | |
| R. Joseph Stockhus | Edward Haddad | ||
| Joseph Sweeny | Honorary Brother: | ||
| Kenneth White | Samuel Babbitt | ||
| Richard Weicker | |||
| Honorary Brothers: | |||
| Rev. Daniel E. Power, S.J. | |||
| Gordon Thompson |
| Line 17 | Line 18 | Line 19 | Line 20 |
| Spring 1964 | Fall 1964 | Spring 196 | Fall 1965 |
| Pledgemaster: Jay Bowes | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: |
| Dedication: | Dedication: Herbert G. Horton | Dedication: | Dedication: Dr. Lester R. Steig |
| Jeffrey Miller | Thomas Brereton | John Rathbone | Russel Ogden |
| Frank Altieri | Robert Thomas | Thomas Perich | Bob Lentini |
| Tony DiFabio | Joseph Baczko | Michael Alofsin | Ed Cheski |
| Ed G. | John Becker | Edward Campbell | James Kehoe |
| John Casciano | Federick John | James Higgins | Dennis Signorovitch |
| John Tuccillo | John Knipsel | Dennis Jendrzejak | James Steiner |
| Richard Williams | Myron Kyj | Ed Krzanowski | James Miller |
| James Esterling | Lawrence Mallon | Walter Kulczycky | Frank Ocweiga |
| Robert Baron Smith | Denny S. | David Matter | Richard Berg |
| John Jackson | Arthur Wallenstein | Daniel Pattee | Ray Collotti |
| Jim Wilkinson | Lawrence Weiner | Frank Powell | john Weisner |
| John Conaghan | Frederick Scheetz | John Lee | |
| William Johnson | Bob Rosenberg | Art Hilderbrandt | |
| Melvin Felber | Kevin Leo | ||
| James Linden | Honorary Brother: | ||
| Eugene Scalise | Fr. Edward Bunn | ||
| Terry Jones | |||
| Barney Rupp | (Initiated in a special ceremony earlier in the semester) | ||
| Jim O’Malley | |||
| Steve Wolfe | |||
| Ed Lynch | |||
| Honorary Brothers: | |||
| Col. John E. (Jack) Jessup | |||
| William Moran | |||
| Line 21 | Line 22 | Line 23 | Line 24 |
| Spring 1966 | Fall 1966 | Spring 1967 | Fall 1967 |
| Pledgemaster: John Rathbone | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: |
| Dedication: | Dedication: Frank Reed Horton | Dedication: | Dedication: Captain James A. Lowell |
| Tom Cunningham | R. Scott Faley | Randy Collins | Karl Guerra |
| George Shannon | Richard Shullaw | Larry Frank | James Donovan |
| Tom Campbell | Lester Green | Peter Lynch | |
| George Crim | John Capo | Pete Olivere | |
| Bill Clinton | John Principle | Dick Stratford | |
| John Hanrahan | Michael Zagrodny | ||
| Jerry Schroeder | |||
| Joe Kelly | |||
| John Fitzgerald | |||
| Dick Fleury | |||
| Tom Liebermann | |||
| Ken Davis | |||
| Bob Rotundo | |||
| Jim Tigani | |||
| Bob Delambo | |||
| Harry Hayman | |||
| Kit Ashby |
| Line 25 | Line 26 | Line 27 | Line 28 |
| Spring 1968 | Fall 1968 | Spring 1969 | Fall 1969 |
| Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: | Pledgemaster: Mike Mason | Pledgemaster: Mike Mason |
| Dedication: | Dedication: Dr. Tom T. Galt | Dedication: | Dedication: E. Ross Forman |
| Ed McHale | Jack Lione | Bill Dietrich | Wes Clark |
| Phil Leas | Michael Smith | Joseph Sanchez | Joe Guarriello |
| John W. | William Ginivan | ||
| John O’Brien | Honorary Brother: | Rich Shomes | |
| Mark Schaeffer | Robert Dixon | William Ostan | |
| Michael Mason | John Richert | ||
| David Hoopingarner | Michael Durson | ||
| James Sdola | Roger Benson | ||
| Ron Looney | Ray Yacouby | ||
| Robert Bowlby | |||
| Greg Russo |